MSRB approves proposed rule amendment in Holiday's first meeting as board chair

The board of directors of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Thursday concluded its first quarterly meeting of fiscal year 2026, during which the board under its new chair approved the filing of a proposed rule amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The proposed amendment to MSRB Rule G-28 would "harmonize MSRB requirements for dealer personnel engaging in municipal securities activities away from their own firm" with a similar Financial Industry Regulatory Authority rule, the MSRB said in an Oct. 23 press release.

The quarterly meeting, held on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, marked Natasha Holiday's first as board chair.

"Over the next fiscal year, I look forward to collaborating with MSRB Board members from across our industry, and the nation, who will continue to bring their deep market expertise and experience to our priorities and stakeholder engagement efforts," Holiday said in the release.

The board remains "deeply committed to the priorities that matter most to the market, and I am confident that together with our stakeholders, MSRB can make America's communities stronger and more vibrant, one bond at a time," she said.

Also during the meeting, the board in relation to MSRB Rule G-27 on supervision discussed "the approach to further phases of the dealer supervision retrospective rule review beyond the upcoming request for comment approved at the last board meeting," the release said.

"The dealer supervision review is designed to explore avenues for providing additional flexibility for dealers to meet their supervisory obligations in a manner consistent with modern workplace practices without favoring any particular business model," the MSRB release said.

In addition, the board with regard to MSRB Rule G-32 on primary offering disclosure discussed "progress on addressing underwriter feedback on the submission process for primary offering data and documents through Form G-32, including upcoming near-term actions intended to clarify submission requirements and timeframes as well as consideration of potential longer-term approaches to simplifying the submission process and form content," according to the release.

The board during the meeting also received updates regarding other areas of retrospective review and rulebook modernization, the release said.

In addition, the board received updates relating to market transparency and market structure. The board was provided with an update regarding the modernization of EMMA and related market transparency systems, the release said. The board also received an update regarding upcoming municipal market research and recent muni market activity, including record annual trade count and the growth of Alternative Trading Systems, separately managed accounts and exchange-traded funds, MSRB's release said.